Venison Monte Cristo Sandwich

Pecan pie, coconut M&M's, the infamous painkiller at Cheddar's, veal: There are certain things in life that I believe should not cross my lips for fear I will love them. I know better. I've learned my lesson. I gave in to apple pie, pumpkin pie and French toast (thanks for those, Husband) and kind of wish I never had. I can't get enough of 'em. (And when you're not supposed to be eating carbs, that's not necessarily a good thing!)

So I should have taken my own advice and never made the sandwich that I made tonight. Oh. Em. Gee. I've been out to eat with Momma when she has ordered a monte cristo sandwich but never tried one. It's, like, French toast, ya know? And I was more than happy to avoid French toast for years.

But then I fell in love with bread dipped in egg. And I now realize there's no turning back.

Pumpkin-Spice Coffee Brownies

For weeks we had a bag of mostly empty Godiva coffee hanging out in the back of our fridge. Every time I would open the fridge to shuffle things around - especially when trying to make room for all of those Thanksgiving ingredients - I had to move that bag to another shelf. The husband offered to throw it in the coffee maker one morning, allowing us to wake up with just one more taste of fall. I told him to leave it. 

The bag only contained about three tablespoons of coffee, but I wasn't ready to use it up.

A couple of months ago I had a slight dilemma and asked for suggestions as to what I should make for a bake sale at work. The husband voted for oatmeal cookies, saying pumpkin-y coffee-flavored brownies might not go over well with the masses. But Little Big Brother (who I actually think should be referred to as Big Little Brother from here on out) was all about the coffee brownies. The only issue was that he was miles and miles away and wouldn't be able to test my recipe. 

What'd Thanksgiving mean for me, besides pink stuff and showing off a brand-new apron I sewed for myself (and one for Momma)?

Big Little Brother would be here.

Meatless Monday: Southern-Inspired Rice Pilaf

We hopped off the Meatless Monday bandwagon a few months ago - not necessarily by choice, but still. But I just realized this side that we served our company their last night here was meatless - and now it's Monday! Hey, hey, look at that. We've got ourselves another Meatless Monday post.

Day-After Thanksgiving Coma

The boys set our Thanksgiving table.

'Twas the day after Thanksgiving and no one was hungry for breakfast, so I got to sit down and blog instead of making eggs and bacon.

We hope you enjoyed your day with friends and family. Here's a look at how our day went:

Chance checked out the turkey while it thawed.

Homemade onion dip made an appearance on our appetizer spread.

The husband got his cranberry butter.

Ant took care of the turkey.

The cider-glaze turkey was dee-lish.

Our Thanksgiving buffet table - minus the turkey

The pumpkin pie didn't look the best, but it tasted pretty good.

I could eat my weight in apple pie.

The husband loves the crumb topping.

Did you save room for dessert?